Their relationship has withstood a series of personal and professional setbacks but now Lara Bingle and her BFF Hermione Underwood are parting ways professionally.
Underwood, who stepped in as Bingle's manager a year ago, confirmed to Confidential yesterday that she no longer acted on the behalf of the swimsuit model turned reality star, handing the reins over to Sally Brown and Chrissy Biasotto at Tailor Maid Management in Surry Hills.
The move has raised eyebrows given the well-known closeness of the two girls, who have been virtually inseparable since meeting on a plane flight four years ago.
Since teaming up professionally - after Bingle sacked her previous manager Titus Day - Bingle has been a hit with several ventures including an eyewear collaboration, a series of lucrative modelling campaigns and, most recently, her own reality series on Ten.
According to 'friends', the recent split - which is addressed in the upcoming Being Lara Bingle - has added a level of awkwardness to their relationship given the pair are living together in their rented Bondi penthouse for the show.
"They're putting on a harmonious front but things are tense since Lara decided to get new management," said a friend.
But Underwood, currently in Mumbai with Bingle (where she still has a big profile on the back of her affiliation with Michael Clarke), denied there was any personal beef behind the split and said the pair simply wanted to "go back to being best friends".
"I came on board a year ago because I believed in Lara and we achieved a lot of goals together but it was never really intended to be a long-term, permanent thing," Underwood said.
"I have a lot of personal dreams which I put aside to do this job and now that's something I want to go back and focus on.
"But we're still best friends and I will continue to advise her ... but not as a manager. Just a friend."
Asked if a personal "falling out" sparked the split, Underwood said: "No, but that would probably make a better story."
Source: Sydney Confidential
Published Date: 31st May 2012
LARA'S REALITY SHOW GET'S PRIME-TIME SPOT, REPLACING MODERN FAMILY
Channel 10 has thrown Lara Bingle into the heat of the TV ratings war, shifting her reality show from Thursdays to the prime-time slot of 8pm on Tuesdays.
Thanks to "very encouraging" advertising support, Being Lara Bingle will replace Modern Family and go up against Nine's ratings powerhouse The Big Bang Theory and Seven's US drama Once Upon A Time.
The scheduling decision, made yesterday, comes on the back of a series of positive test screenings and huge public interest in the show, which will launch on June 12.
"We are getting dozens of calls about this show every day," one Ten staffer said yesterday.
Dubbed as an inside look at the "real" person behind the headlines, the show will be diced up into 10 30-minute episodes and will also feature her brother Josh, mother Sharon and Australian manager and best friend Hermione Underwood.
Currently filming scenes in Los Angeles - where Bingle is trying to break into acting - the series hit a publicity snag this week when it was revealed the $8 million Bondi apartment in which she "lives" in the show is rented by producers.
The beachfront, four-bedroom mega-pad on posh Knotts Ave is being leased by production company Eyeworks for about $4500 per week, with Bingle set to return to her modest one-bedroom Darling Point at when filming finishes in July.
Critics have argued that the "fake" apartment clashes with Ten's ethos that the program will be an inside look at the "real" Bingle.
"I don't understand how you are supposed to be filming the 'life' of someone when you put them up in a multi-million-dollar apartment they could never afford in 'real life'," one online comment read yesterday.
But a rep for Ten defended the use of the plush pad, saying: "It makes for a better backing. It's easier to film in and the views are stunning."
It's also understood the producer opted for a Bondi location "to make the show more appealing to overseas TV buyers".
Source: Herald Sun
Published Date: 29th May 2012
Thanks to "very encouraging" advertising support, Being Lara Bingle will replace Modern Family and go up against Nine's ratings powerhouse The Big Bang Theory and Seven's US drama Once Upon A Time.
The scheduling decision, made yesterday, comes on the back of a series of positive test screenings and huge public interest in the show, which will launch on June 12.
"We are getting dozens of calls about this show every day," one Ten staffer said yesterday.
Dubbed as an inside look at the "real" person behind the headlines, the show will be diced up into 10 30-minute episodes and will also feature her brother Josh, mother Sharon and Australian manager and best friend Hermione Underwood.
Currently filming scenes in Los Angeles - where Bingle is trying to break into acting - the series hit a publicity snag this week when it was revealed the $8 million Bondi apartment in which she "lives" in the show is rented by producers.
The beachfront, four-bedroom mega-pad on posh Knotts Ave is being leased by production company Eyeworks for about $4500 per week, with Bingle set to return to her modest one-bedroom Darling Point at when filming finishes in July.
Critics have argued that the "fake" apartment clashes with Ten's ethos that the program will be an inside look at the "real" Bingle.
"I don't understand how you are supposed to be filming the 'life' of someone when you put them up in a multi-million-dollar apartment they could never afford in 'real life'," one online comment read yesterday.
But a rep for Ten defended the use of the plush pad, saying: "It makes for a better backing. It's easier to film in and the views are stunning."
It's also understood the producer opted for a Bondi location "to make the show more appealing to overseas TV buyers".
Source: Herald Sun
Published Date: 29th May 2012
LARA'S PLANNING A MOVE TO LA
Just as Aussies are getting a glimpse of Lara Bingle's life, the swimwear model plans to whizz off to live and work in the US.
The 24-year-old is hunting for a manager in Los Angeles while filming the Network Ten reality series Being Lara Bingle, which premieres on Tuesday, June 12.
Bingle's dream is to get modelling and television work in the US and to eventually split her time between there and Australia, she told AAP.
"I plan to move to LA,'' Bingle said from Los Angeles.
"I spend a lot of time here and have a lot going on here so I am visiting some managers. I love this place,'' she said.
Bingle has spent about a week in the US, visiting agents and doing a photo shoot.
Behind her every step is the crew filming Being Lara Bingle, following her quest for a US-based manager in addition to monitoring her forthcoming trip to India where she is attending functions.
"I was at Manhattan Beach today for a shoot and there are definitely similarities between Sydney and here - and I could definitely make that transition,'' she said.
Ten has committed to 10 half-hour episodes of Being Lara Bingle, which also features her brother Josh, mother Sharon and Australian manager and best friend Hermione Underwood.
The idea for the reality series, along the lines of the popular US series Keeping Up With The Kardashians, belongs to John McAvoy, managing director of Eyeworks Australia.
McAvoy first met Bingle when she was a teenager signed to the Nine Network.
At first Bingle said she flatly refused the idea because her life was unfolding like a TV soapie anyway and she was not in the right head space.
However after appearing on Dancing With The Stars and becoming accustomed to having TV cameras following her every move, plus having her personal life settle down, she embraced the reality show.
Ten's decision to commission Being Lara Bingle could also be the make-or-break move for 'brand Bingle'.
"I have never really understood the interest as well,'' Bingle said.
"Someone to ask you to do a TV show is quite bizarre.
"But at the end of the day I am a brand, this is a business and that's the decision I made to do it.''
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Published Date: 29th May 2012
The 24-year-old is hunting for a manager in Los Angeles while filming the Network Ten reality series Being Lara Bingle, which premieres on Tuesday, June 12.
Bingle's dream is to get modelling and television work in the US and to eventually split her time between there and Australia, she told AAP.
"I plan to move to LA,'' Bingle said from Los Angeles.
"I spend a lot of time here and have a lot going on here so I am visiting some managers. I love this place,'' she said.
Bingle has spent about a week in the US, visiting agents and doing a photo shoot.
Behind her every step is the crew filming Being Lara Bingle, following her quest for a US-based manager in addition to monitoring her forthcoming trip to India where she is attending functions.
"I was at Manhattan Beach today for a shoot and there are definitely similarities between Sydney and here - and I could definitely make that transition,'' she said.
Ten has committed to 10 half-hour episodes of Being Lara Bingle, which also features her brother Josh, mother Sharon and Australian manager and best friend Hermione Underwood.
The idea for the reality series, along the lines of the popular US series Keeping Up With The Kardashians, belongs to John McAvoy, managing director of Eyeworks Australia.
McAvoy first met Bingle when she was a teenager signed to the Nine Network.
At first Bingle said she flatly refused the idea because her life was unfolding like a TV soapie anyway and she was not in the right head space.
However after appearing on Dancing With The Stars and becoming accustomed to having TV cameras following her every move, plus having her personal life settle down, she embraced the reality show.
Ten's decision to commission Being Lara Bingle could also be the make-or-break move for 'brand Bingle'.
"I have never really understood the interest as well,'' Bingle said.
"Someone to ask you to do a TV show is quite bizarre.
"But at the end of the day I am a brand, this is a business and that's the decision I made to do it.''
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Published Date: 29th May 2012
REALITY TV HAS A LARA BINGLE
Yes, you will see her in her bathrobe. But not on the toilet.
These are among the unusual topics that come up in conversation when discussing the parameters of privacy with reality TV's aspiring new superstar.
When you are Lara Bingle, it's no use pretending to be coy. She is, as one of her minders assures me before we meet, "an open book". And as with any member of that peculiar breed of people famous for being famous, it's a wise approach.
Since being catapulted into the spotlight as a fresh-faced bikini babe in the ill-fated "Where the bloody hell are you?" Tourism Australia campaign, the now 24-year-old's life has been exhaustively documented.
Thanks to her high-profile romances, behind-the-wheel mayhem, broken engagement to Michael Clarke and nude photo controversies, Bingle's name has become synonymous with scandal.
Subscribing to the school of thought that you might as well join those you can't beat, the model and self-described fashion entrepreneur has decided to embrace her notoriety in the new series Being Lara Bingle.
The challenge for all involved lies in translating curiosity into cold, hard ratings. Though media interest in Bingle shows no signs of abating, that doesn't always equate to finding an audience to commit to a long-running series.
As everyone from Paris Hilton to Nicole Kidman can attest, the ability to make for fascinating fodder on the newsstands is no guarantee the public will actually choose to watch their movies or TV programs.
Even before it airs, many industry pundits have speculated Being Lara Bingle will bomb.
Time will tell, but Bingle remains adamant the show has been worth doing.
"I think the main thing (about reality TV) is that it's humanising people, it's getting to see the real person and that for me is a really big thing because the way I am portrayed is not necessarily correct all the time," Bingle says.
Insisting she's just a "really normal girl" living an unusually crazy life, Bingle believes that after doing some serious growing up she is ready to let the Australian public see her at her most unguarded.
"In the past, everyone's watched me grow up so it's kind of nice that I'm in a good place to do something like this. I don't have final edit and it's not scripted - it's all very real - and I think that's a nice thing."
Yet surrendering the minutiae of her life for the purposes of entertainment raises questions about what - if any - right to privacy Bingle can claim, as happened when naked photos were recently taken inside her Bondi penthouse.
"That was a massive invasion of my privacy," Bingle says. "It was behind closed doors and they must have been waiting for me because it was 6 in the morning. It's such a horrible thing to go through."
Even so, she believes the experience was helpful in that it has taught her to be more cautious. Seeing the positive in unfortunate situations is a recurring theme for Bingle, who even manages to find a silver lining in being taunted for gaining weight last year.
"To be honest it was the best thing that happened to me," she says. "I appreciated my body more and completely changed my lifestyle."
Despite the positive spin, it is obvious Bingle was devastated at being judged for the alleged sin of getting "fat".
"I really lost a lot of confidence and having to work hard to get back to where I am was really hard. I was even really embarrassed to go to the gym because then people would think I was trying to lose weight."
As for the advice she would offer to her 19-year-old self as she first stared down the camera to ask where the bloody hell everyone was, at first Bingle declares she has no regrets.
"I probably wouldn't take anything back for a second," she says. But a few moments later she concedes her career took off before she was ready.
"Sometimes I wish I'd started now and with all that I knew I would have done it a different way."
After six years in the headlines it's hard to believe Bingle will turn only 25 next month. "I feel like I've lived two lives," she says. "Or three."
So what achievements does she hope to be celebrating by her 30th birthday?
"Oh wow. I don't want to have children and get married too late so maybe in the next five to eight years I would definitely think about that. Everyone wants a happy, healthy family."
Domestic bliss and a one-woman empire. What more could a girl hope for?
Only that her debut series might prove successful enough to turn into a long-running Kardashian-style franchise.
Sharing the good, the bad and everything in between with an inquisitive yet often unforgiving public - that has always been what being Lara Bingle is all about.
- Being Lara Bingle, Channel 10, Tuesday, June 12, 8pm
Source: Herald Sun
Published Date: 29th May 2012
LARA TO LEAVE LUXURY BONDI DIGS AFTER FILMING WRAPS UP ON REALITY SHOW
She may currently be holed up in the sort of multi-million dollar Bondi luxury she has previously been accustomed to but for Lara Bingle, star of Ten's upcoming self-titled reality show, the party is soon set to end.The former fiancee of Michael Clarke is currently living in an $8 million beachfront, four-bedroom mega-pad but will soon hand back the keys to the luxury abode being rented by the program's production company Eye Works for about $4500 per week, say real estate sources.
A rep for Network Ten yesterday defended the decision to present the plush pad as Bingle's regular digs in the upcoming series Being Lara Bingle, saying it was simply easier to shoot in. Previously the former swimwear model resided in a pokey, one-bedroom Darling Point flat worth one-tenth the value of the Bondi penthouse.
"The (penthouse) makes for a better backing. It's easier to film in and the views are stunning," said a network source. It's also understood the producer opted for a Bondi location "to make the show more appealing to overseas TV buyers".
Asked if it will be disclosed in the reality series that the property is purely for show, the rep said: "It's brushed over".
And in a classic case of going from the penthouse to the dog house, Bingle - who is living with her brother Josh and manager Hermione Underwood in Bondi - is likely to return to her old Darling Point flat.
Source: Sydney Confidential
Published Date: 29th May 2012
JET-SETTING LARA HAS A NEW DATE
She was in LA yesterday and will be in New York by the weekend and India next week.
But the editing crew behind Lara Bingle's new reality TV vehicle are working around the clock to launch the series in less than two weeks.
With cameras still rolling on Being Lara Bingle overseas, a release date was yesterday confirmed - June 7 at 8pm on Channel 10.
Oh, and for those scratching their heads about India? La Bingle is still big there because of her past with Michael Clarke and will be "working and catching up with friends" in Mumbai.
This is a make or break move for Bingle. If the show fails, TV as a career avenue will pretty much shut down for her. If it works, the Bingle brand will be revitalised.
The series promises to expose a different side of Bingle.
"From a string of high-profile relationships, to leaked topless photos, controversial car chases, and endless swimsuit spreads, Lara Bingle has proved to be solid gold tabloid fodder from the get go,'' reads the Ten promo line.
"Away from the persistent paparazzi and extravagant celebrity events, we'll meet the girl who still takes her washing home every week."
Source: Herald Sun
Published Date: 24th May 2012
But the editing crew behind Lara Bingle's new reality TV vehicle are working around the clock to launch the series in less than two weeks.
With cameras still rolling on Being Lara Bingle overseas, a release date was yesterday confirmed - June 7 at 8pm on Channel 10.
Oh, and for those scratching their heads about India? La Bingle is still big there because of her past with Michael Clarke and will be "working and catching up with friends" in Mumbai.
This is a make or break move for Bingle. If the show fails, TV as a career avenue will pretty much shut down for her. If it works, the Bingle brand will be revitalised.
The series promises to expose a different side of Bingle.
"From a string of high-profile relationships, to leaked topless photos, controversial car chases, and endless swimsuit spreads, Lara Bingle has proved to be solid gold tabloid fodder from the get go,'' reads the Ten promo line.
"Away from the persistent paparazzi and extravagant celebrity events, we'll meet the girl who still takes her washing home every week."
Source: Herald Sun
Published Date: 24th May 2012
LARA ADMITTED SHE WAS SHOCKED AT MICHAEL CLARKE'S WEDDING AND STILL WEARS A RING ON HER ENGAGEMENT FINGER
They broke up in a blaze of publicity more than two years ago but Lara Bingle has revealed she still wears a ring on her engagement finger, the same digit that used to display a $200,000 sparkler given to her by Aussie cricket skipper Michael Clarke.
Extending her congratulations to ex-fiance Clarke on his marriage to Kyly Boldy, 24-year-old Bingle admitted old habits die hard because it feels like only yesterday that they were due to marry.
When the couple split in 2010, Bingle was said to have thrown the 4.7-carat diamond ring down the toilet of their Bondi penthouse, a claim later denied by her agent.
The model turned reality TV star yesterday admitted she was stunned to hear that Clarke had tied the knot - but wished the couple all the best.
"My brother (Josh) is a real piss taker and I thought he was taking the piss. I was like; 'You're joking,'" Bingle told The Daily Telegraph's Sarrah Le Marquand.
She shrugged off claims Clarke opted for a low-key ceremony in the Blue Mountains with Boldy to distance himself from his high-profile and often melodramatic romance with Bingle.
"We haven't been together for quite some time and people change," she said.
"With us it was a completely different scenario - we both wanted the same things and when you move on with another person maybe another person doesn't want that.
"So I think the way they did it was very smart. In the country is not really my thing but it looked amazing and they looked happy and she looked beautiful."
With no shortage of her own critics, Bingle also spoke out in defence of Delta Goodrem, who has endured spiteful commentary for her work on The Voice.
"Australia has nothing else to talk about. They're not going to be talking about Seal and ... who else is on the show? Joel Madden and Keith Urban? She looks great, she speaks well and is really sweet."
Source: Sydney Confidential
Published Date: 22nd May 2012
LARA REVEALS HER BEST BODY YET
Max May, Lara Bingle’s bestie and hair and make-up artist, arrives flanked by suitcases; Mikey, her stylist, has turned up with racks of bikinis; the Being Lara Bingle film crew have been waiting outside since before OK! even turned up; and within a not-too-tardy 30 minutes, Lara herself and her manager, Hermione Underwood, walk through the door of the cliff-top mansion we’re shooting at today.Lara, 24, who weathered her fair share of criticism last year for adding on a few kilos, has promised OK! she’s back to her bikini best and, despite the blustery Sydney day, has agreed to strip down and show off that swimsuit-model figure that made her famous when she walked along an Aussie beach asking, ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ in 2006.
In the six years since, Lara’s fame has skyrocketed, in part thanks to her engagement to cricketer Michael Clarke. But one of the downsides of their very public break-up was her weight gain. ‘Most people lose weight after they split from a boyfriend. I did the opposite, I just got bigger, bigger and bigger,’ Lara admits.
‘At the time, I was going through a lot and everything caught up with me,’ she adds. ‘I took everything for granted when I was younger, you know, when you’re 17 and 18, eating well and training hard isn’t really on the to-do list… So I put on a little weight, but I’ve turned it around in the sense that I’m eating right and I train hard now. I lead a very healthy life.’
Looking at Lara now – perfect skin, clear blue eyes and killer curves – it’s hard to imagine anyone criticising her. And when OK! sat down for a chat about embracing a healthy body, her new reality show and rumoured relationship with Gareth Moody, she was as likeable as she was candid…
Lara, you’re looking fantastic! How confident are you feeling in a bikini?
Other than it being winter… I feel comfortable and confident that I’m back! It’s really important for me to feel comfortable and confident because it’s my job, and once you feel like that it shines through.
You were targeted last year for putting on weight, and you admitted you weren’t eating well but that you were proud of your curves. Why have you lost the weight again?
I’ve had a complete lifestyle change because my body is my job and I have to take it seriously. [The criticism] was one of the best things that happened to me, to be honest. Even inside my soul, as a person, it completely changed everything. It’s not just about the way you look – you need your ups and downs to realise the good parts.
Source: OK Magazine
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